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My Favourite Mac Apps

There have been several posts just like this one floating around the web over the last few days. Some written simply to cash in on people searching for apps for their new devices gifted over the holidays. However many have been genuinely useful and I have discovered some great apps that I never knew existed. So taking inspiration from those, these are my favourite macOS apps this year.

Quitter

The idea of Quitter is pretty easy, but it does it so well. Quitting apps from running after a set period of inactivity. Created to minimise distraction from social apps such as Twitter and Slack, I have also used it to quit apps like photoshop and Logic which eat up battery life even when idling in the back ground. You might argue this doesn’t need to be done, however I have found great benefit in this small, free, utility by one of the best Mac developers out there.

Bartender

With all of these great macOS apps comes an icon in your menu bar. After no time at all this can become cluttered and unmanageable. That is where Bartender comes in, a long time Mac utility that tidies everything up. Once enabled you can place little used icons into a septette hidden menu, and also rid yourself of pointless ones like your user name. This is all customisable and very quickly become something that you can’t do without.

Paste

Clipboard managers are ten a penny on Mac, I have been using Copied across iOS and macOS for a while. However Paste goes a little further and provides a really nice UI and management system to hold onto clippings you may keep coming back to.

Day One

I’ve been toying with the idea of journaling for a long time. I’ve started jotting things down several times, but never really got the hang of it. Day one provides the opportunity for you to use the app completely free of charge and reap the benefits. The app is really easy to use, and is very well designed for the most part. If you want to start journaling, look no further than Day One.

Ulysses

Markdown editors for macOS and iOS is a huge battle ground with many people having their favourites. I was a long time Byword user (which is still a fantastic app) however for the past year or so I have been using Ulysses and I can’t recommend it enough. Now the app has a subscription model it is far more approachable, for the cost of a coffee a month you can have one of the best editors on the market on all of your Apple devices.

Bear

To many people, using Bear and Ulysses might seem a little redundant. However they do work great together. I have toyed with the idea of using Apple Notes to write, however I keep coming back to Bear because of its brilliant automation features. Couple that with the fact it looks gorgeous and you have a winning app everyone will enjoy.

Forecast

The second app from Marco in my list is a bit of a niche one. This app has been a revelation when putting chapter markers into my Podcasts. Forecast allows me to place markers into Logic Pro while editing, export as a .WAV file and then encode in Forecast. Not only this but the encoding to MP3 that Forecast takes full advantage of the CPU, meaning it is completed in a mater of seconds. If you podcast you should grab this app, its free!

There are wealth of really useful Mac apps out there, let no one convince you that the Mac app eco system is dead. I am sure there are many more out there, as I am discovering more and more all the time. I will keep updating this list as and when I find them.